Released by a German company called Radofin, the 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System was released in Europe in 1976. Sometimes referred to as the Radofin 1292, the 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System is without doubt one of the strangest names ever given to a video games console.
The 1292 was a catridge based system which came with 2 hard-wired controllers, which connected to the system with a cable which resembled a telephone cord. Each 2-axis controller had 12 regular buttons and 2 fire buttons.
The system was powered via an external ac adaptor however a version was available with the power pack inside the console (released as the 1392 Advanced Programmable Video System).
The Fountain Force 2: released in Australia & New Zealand
The 1292 and 1392 came packaged with 2 games: Olympics and Invaders. In total, around 40 games were released for the system.
Specifications
The 1292 was powered by the Signetics 2650 CPU and was clocked at 4.43MHz. This 8 bit processor was also used in the Emerson Arcadia 2001. which wasn’t released for another 6 years (many believed that 1292 games would play on the 2001 but apparently this is no more than a rumour).
The console could display 4 colours and 3 sound channels, which was powered by the Signetics 2636N (3.58MHz). It also had 43 bytes of internal memory.
Variations
The console was licensed and sold all over the world through companies such as Grandstand (United Kingdom / Europe), Audiosonic (Europe), Hanimex (Australia / Europe), Lansay (Europe), Acetronic (Europe), Prinztronic (United Kingdom) and Fountain (Australia / New Zealand). Most of these variations were basic like changing the branding on the machine though some changed the look of the case completely.
Variations include:
- Acetronic MPU-1000
- Acetronic MPU-2000
- Audiosonic PP-1292 Advanced Programmable Video System
- Audiosonic PP-1392 Advanced Programmable Video System
- Fountain Force 2
- Fountain 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System
- Fountain 1392 Advanced Programmable Video System
- Grandstand Advanced Programmable Video System
- Hanimex HMG-1292 Advanced Programmable Video System
- Hanimex HMG-1392 Advanced Programmable Video System
- Lansay 1392
- Prinztronic VC-6000
- Prinztronic Tournament
- Radofin 1392 Advanced Programmable Video System
Manual
Below you will find a copy of an original manual for the console (courtesy of Amigan).
